Title: The Grudge
Rating: PG-13
Author: Mac
Disclaimers: All characters of Stargate Atlantis are property of MGM
Studios, the Sci-Fi Channel, and other companies who aren't me.

Elizabeth Weir stood outside, looking out at the vast ocean around
Atlantis. If someone told her a year ago that she'd be in a whole new
galaxy, she would have laughed in their face. Yet, there she was.

And she was loving every minute of it!

Well,
almost. She nearly lost some good friends and colleagues a few days
ago. Everyone on Atlantis had worked hard to make certain they all came
home in one piece. She really did have the best and the brightest.
Excluding SG-1, General O'Neill had told her before they left.

Elizabeth
decided she was going to take a walk around Atlantis. She wanted to
visit with the Athosians and make sure they weren't upset with her for
refusing to let them participate in the death ritual for Teyla.

She
hadn't meant to sound so harsh or disrespectful, but she couldn't even
think about how the deaths of everyone on that Jumper would effect the
morale on Atlantis. Two of the best soldiers on this base, the one man
who knows pretty much everything about technology, and the bravest
woman she had ever met.

Telling Grodin she'd be gone for awhile,
Elizabeth headed down the corridor towards the Athosian's sleeping
quarters. She came to a "fork", if you will and decided to go left
since she hadn't been in that direction before. Didn't Major Sheppard
tell her there were some people she should meet down there?

She
turned around quickly when she thought she saw someone move past the
sliding doors to the balcony. Elizabeth decided to investigate. "Hello?"

Without
warning, someone grabbed her from behind and she was being dragged
across the balcony. Whoever it was, he covered her mouth to keep her
from crying out. She wasn't going to be dissuaded, though. She bit his
hand hard. The man yelped with pain and let go of her.

She felt a
sharp, numbing pain in her back, then nothing. As she slipped into
darkness, the figure loomed over her. It was then she realized who it
was: Kavanaugh.

He had a rough couple of days recuperating from the Wraith bug thing.
John Sheppard sighed as he stepped out onto the balcony. It was such a
beautiful morning. He began humming Oklahoma music in his head. As he
turned the corner, he stopped in his tracks.

"Kavanaugh!" he
growled, running towards the scientist. He had seen the man knock
someone unconscious, but was yet to figure out who.

Kavanaugh turned and John saw the glint of a gun in the man's hand. "If you don't stop right there Major, I will kill her!"

John's heart thumped in his chest. It was Elizabeth. "What the hell is your problem?" He asked, slowly advancing.

"I
will be damned if Elizabeth Weir is going to kill us all! The lives of
everyone on Atlantis were more important than the six of you on that
Jumper!"

This guy must watch too much Star Trek, he thought. "And the rest of Atlantis would have been screwed of Dr. McKay had been killed in the Jumper incident."

Kavanaugh scoffed at this. "McKay couldn't figure out a light bulb."

"You
know what," John said, "I don't even want to debate this with you. Just
give me the gun and let Dr. Weir go. She was just doing what she
thought was best. If you were in charge," (God forbid, he added to
himself), "You would have done what you thought was best. Get over
yourself!"

John
silently cursed. This idiot was going to use Elizabeth as leverage. He
took a deep breath and walked over to them. If Kavanaugh didn't kill
him, Dr. Beckett would. He could hear the Scotsman's voice in his head,
' Of course you can go for a walk, Major, but don't overexert yourself.
You did die, after all.'

"Just where are we going?"

"Wherever
I tell you. Oh, and Major, remove the headsets you're both wearing. I
don't want you to go contacting any of your fellow soldiers."

"Teyla."

"Yes, Dr. Beckett?"

"Have you seen Major Sheppard lately?"

She shook her head. "I have not. I thought he was told to rest in his quarters."

"Aye,
but I told him he could take a walk outside before he went there. I
knew I should have had someone go with him. I can't find him or Dr.
Weir anywhere and I've been unable to contact them both."

"That's odd," Teyla replied. "Do you think something has happened?"

Beckett
sighed. "I have no idea. I just hope Major Sheppard isn't overexerting
himself. Would you mind helping me find one or the both of them?"

"Not at all, Doctor. Why don't you inform Sergeant Bates and I'll see if Halling has spoken with either of them recently."

"None whatsoever. Someone messed with the
biosigns detector so I had to grab one from one of the Jumpers. I was
just about to turn it on to see if can locate them."

"But, Doctor," Teyla said, "how will we be able to determine it is them?"

Dr.
Beckett replied, "If one of them is injured, their biosign will be red.
Whether or not it's them... Well, do it son, we haven't got all day."

Rodney's
eyebrows shot up. "There's only one injured lifesign on here. They're
near the east tower, two floors below us. We haven't explored that
section of the city yet."

"We should get a team together and check this out," Bates told them. "We don't know what's going on down there."

"I'll come along too, Sergeant," Dr. Beckett said.

Teyla nodded. "As will I."

John tried to lay Elizabeth down as carefully as possible. He was
exhausted and his chest was really starting to hurt him. No wonder
Beckett had told him to take it easy for the next few days.

"Move away from Dr. Weir, Major."

Oh
yeah, he had that scientist to deal with. John stood up and blocked
Kavanaugh's view of her. "Either you hand me the gun, or I'll have to
take it from you by force. It's your choice, but I'd rather not hurt
you."

Kavanaugh scoffed at him, noting his pale features. Before
John could move an inch, he was punched hard in the stomach. His vision
swam in and out of focus. "Not so tough now, are we, Major?" he asked
with a grin.

John was confused. Since when did Kavanaugh have so
much rage in him? He wasn't going to find out anytime soon because he
felt a searing pain in his left temple, then nothing.

Kavanaugh
kicked John to make certain he was really unconscious. His attention
turned back to Dr. Weir as she was coming to. He quickly walked over to
her and pulled her up from the floor. "Let's go, Doctor. We're going
for a trip through the Stargate."

Dr. Beckett glanced down at the biosigns detector. "We have one injured
and alone in the same area we noted earlier. The other two are headed
for the control room... I think."

Bates nodded. "Doctor, why
don't you and Teyla check on the injured person. My team will contact
the control room and let them know the situation. We'll go after them
from all sides."

"Aye." Dr. Beckett handed him the Atlantean technology. "I trust one of your men has the gene?"

"I do, Sir!"

"Good, let's go!"

"Doctor?" Teyla said.

Dr. Beckett pointed in the direction they needed to go. "We should hurry."

When
they arrived at the east tower, two floors down, they found someone
they did not expect. "Major Sheppard!" Teyla exclaimed, rushing to her
friend's side. "Doctor, he's bleeding badly!"

"Head injuries tend
to do that, Love." He could see a thin sheet of sweat on the Major's
brow and his face was unnaturally white. "Control room, this is Dr.
Beckett. We need a medical team to the east tower! And make it fast."

"Yes, Sir!"

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